Tick, tock. Time is a big deal in Slam. First of all, there's some time travel as Sam travels to the future to see what his life is like later on. Now, we know people can't actually travel through time, but wonky things happen in the world of fiction—maybe Sam's dreams transport him to the future for real, or perhaps Sam just imagines how things will turn out. Either way, we hop back and forth in time in this book.
On a different level, there's also the sense that timing is all that matters. Getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy boy sounds like a mother's dream, but it turns into a bit of a nightmare since Sam and Alicia are teenagers. Sam learns the hard way that timing is everything as he races against the clock to either grow-up or fail to rise to the challenge of becoming a parent.
Questions About Time
- Do you think Sam travels to the future or just imagines it? Why? Why does he think Tony Hawk is responsible?
- What lessons does Sam learn from traveling to the future? How do you think it changes his behavior when Rufus is born?
- How would the story change if Alicia and Sam were thirty-five? Why does their age matter?
- What does Sam dislike about seeing the future? Why does he hate the feeling of it?
Chew on This
By showing Sam traveling to the future, Slam emphasizes time and the importance of the right timing in life.
Even though timing is everything, Sam eventually gets his life back on track despite the untimely pregnancy. Slam shows us that good timing is preferred, but not absolutely necessary.